1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to apparatus and methods for preventing the locomotion of a human being or animal.
2. Description of the Related Art
The present application is a Continuation application of patent application Ser. No. 09/398,388, filed Sep. 17, 1999 (now abandoned).
The use of electricity to disable human beings and other living targets is well known. In the middle 1800""s, electricity was directed through a harpoon to electrocute a whale. Electrocution also came into use as a method of carrying out a death sentence resulting from the commission by a prisoner of a serious crime. While various method of applying lethal electrical impulses are well documented, a weapon for applying non-lethal electrical impulses to disable an attacker is also known. The weapon launches a first dart and a second dart. Each dart remains connected to the weapon by an electrically conductive guide wire. The darts strike an individual. Electrical pulses from the weapon travel to the first dart, from the first dart travel through the individual""s body, into the second dart, and return to the weapon via the electrically conductive wire attached to the second dart. The electrical pulses occur at a rate of from two to ten impulses per second, are each about 20 kilovolts, and each deliver from 0.01 to 0.5 joules. U.S. Pat. No. 4,253,132 issued in 1981 describes such a dart weapon. The patent also suggests that pulses in the range of 0.01 to 0.5 joules induce involuntary muscular contractions.
Since about 1981, it has also been know that a certain minor percentage of individual struck with a conventional dart weapon immobilized and can xe2x80x9cwalk throughxe2x80x9d the electrical pulses and continue an attack despite being struck with darts from the weapon. The ability of some individuals to walk through the electrical pulses was thought to be an anomaly and usually was not taken seriously because the weapon was effective with and stopped most individuals, and because the weapon when used appeared to xe2x80x9cknock downxe2x80x9d an individual or animal or appeared to cause the individual or animal to fall. The weapon would also sometimes appear to cause the skin of a human being or animal to twitch. Consequently, it was assumed that the human being or animal was truly physically incapacitated.
I have discovered that an individual can be readily trained to walk through 0.01 to 0.5 joule pulses delivered by a conventional dart weapon. I have been involved in training over twenty individuals, and in each case the individual was, by focusing on a goal, able to ignore and overcome any discomfort from the dart weapon and to continue to walk, run, or attack. The individual did not lose his or her locomotion. In addition, several cases have been reported where the failure of a conventional dart weapon lead to the death of an individual because police officers had to resort to lethal force when the dart weapon failed to stop the individual. As a result of these experiences, it appears that conventional dart weapons cause an individual to fall down by activating sensory neurons and by producing in an individual a psychological reaction which strongly suggests to the individual that he or she is being incapacitated. The discovery that an individual can overcome a conventional dart weapon and continue his or her locomotion suggests possible dire consequences because many police officers in possession of conventional dart weapons mistakenly assume that they are effective against most or many individuals.
Accordingly, it would be highly desirable to provide an improved apparatus and method which would with a high degree of certainty enable a police officer or other individual to incapacitate an attacker.
Therefore, it is a principal object of the invention to provide an improved apparatus and method for halting the locomotion of a human being or other animal.